final fantasy 7 rebirth
it's so close. it's SO close to being so so good. it is a beautiful game. it's fun to play. it's got dazzlingly charming writing. it's so much fun to romp around with this gang and encounter weirdo after weirdo in the strange world of FF7 - a world that, for all its newfangled lore and over-explanation, is still a place full of neat stuff, quirky people, and interesting diversions. it's a good video game, despite a bizarre early cadence of narrative > extreme open world > narrative > extreme open world > narrative narrative narrative narrative
and yet! and yet. after 70 hours, it cannot help but be what it is - the middle entry in a jj abrams puzzle box of a retelling, with Weird Shit that confounds and confuses an emotional catharsis and resolution when it most needs one. when it's earned it, after sincere scenes, melancholy looks, and one saccharine song.
after a long, long time spent in the game's penultimate chapter, getting increasingly antsy about what I was in store for, I went and read jackson abnormal mapping's critique of the ending, deliberately spoiling it for myself so that I would at least know. without having to play for another 10 hours, teetering on the knife, of will they or won't they. I don't regret my choice, nor do I regret having finally bit the bullet and finished the game, as the boss fights are fun on their own merits, as much as they are a song and dance: we're not exactly going to kill Sephiroth if there's still a third game in the series.
I do think that Rebirth does manage the unimaginable task of making Sephiroth a Cool Villain. in the game where he most needed to be that guy, I think it works. he's weird and touchy-feely and menacing in all the right ways, and the way he constantly worms his way into Cloud's head is really well done.
other quick highlights:
- all of the party members get their time to shine and it largely works, but Barret and Yuffie really stood out
- the whole middle section from Junon through the Saucer where the game practically becomes an extended vacation is when the game really came together for me
- this is not only a very pretty game but a very cinematic one. the scenes are staged thoughtfully, cleverly, and never feel like they're going on and on
- if you don't already care about Zack then there's some parts of this game that are probably not gonna work
- I took 450 screenshots of this game. maybe more than I've taken of any game ever? I think 100 of those are probably of Aerith.
am I gonna play the next one? yeah. yeah I am. it had better do all of the things I wanted this game to do.